Over the weeks leading up to the start of 2017, perhaps you have, as I have, seen lots of blog posts and articles on the keys to success in 2017.

No new years resolutions per se, but ideas, concepts coupled with the latest thinking from people we respect as to what you and I need to do in order to experience success in our family, personal life, work and ministry in this new year.

I want to share with you what I believe is the single most important key for success in 2017.

It’s not something you do, but someone you know. That someone is Jesus. The one key is one word for success across the board for you in 2017:

Jesus.

When the clever lawyer (at least he thought he was clever and insightful) asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Jesus didn’t give him a laundry list of things to do, which perhaps caught him by surprise!

Jesus, in essence, is telling him that his total and completely abandoned love relationship with God is the key to everything.

Loving God is without a doubt the key to everything. Since we believe that Jesus is God and that the way we love God is by loving Jesus with all our heart, mind and soul, this is the key to success as it was then and is now.

He’s your most important relationship…

Not the family you’re responsible for

Not the team you’re leading

Not the people you’re discipling

Not the people you are sharing the Gospel with

All of these other relationships are important, but not the most important, as Jesus reminds us in Luke 14.

“Looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith…” Hebrews 12.2 (ESV).

A study I did years ago on the phrase “Looking to Jesus” led me to understand that it means looking away from one thing and intentionally and deliberately turning our attention to something else.

As Christian leaders, we need to look away from:

The most talked about books

The most listened to Pod and Vod Casts

The most effective programs

The latest and greatest ideas

None of these are wrong per se, but we should not look to any of these as the keys to success.

Neither should we look to, or measure success by:

The size of our building

The size of our budget

The size of our staff

The size of our program offerings

The size of our attendance

The size of our volunteer force

In 2017 let’s all agree to look to Jesus! He is the Lord of the Harvest (Matthew 9:38). He is our foundation, our cornerstone, our hope, our rock! He is the one who will bear fruit through us (John 15; I Corinthians 3:5-9).

Let’s keep it simple and focused.

Quoting John Piper: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”